In hoping this is the end of cruises?

[nakedavengerreturns]

Carnival Cruises are in the shit following the Pandemic. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/31/carnival-cruises-seeks-6bn-funding-amid-coronavirus-fallout?CMP=ShareAndroidAppp_Facebook

AIBU in hoping this is the end of these disgusting floating effluent and
emission producing shit heaps that sully our global waters?

I've never done a cruise but have always loved the idea of sailing from one place to another & getting off to see certain places.

I love the idea of sailing between places. You know, doing the actual sailing part. (Due to DHs health conditions I think that boat has sailed for us, as it were. No point being envious of those that can though!)

@dontdisturbmenow - I am against the cruises. I have never once considered them a great way of holidaying, we have done package holidays probably once in our lives and avoid mass tourism as much as we can. I don't get the idea of being stuck on a huge ship, being let out in different places to spend few hours there and then rush back.

When you got there (Milfors Sound) was glorious. Stunning scenery, pristine silence. Kiwis if you were lucky. Dolphins if you had brought a kayak or went for a swim

Nah - why bother going all the way to New Zealand when Orlando has a perfectly good dolphin show?

Only joking, honest and anyway I've only ever been to Orlando to fly in and immediately leave for the much quieter Gulf

I've just learned a lot about kiwis, though; thinking they were huge birds I was surprised rats can kill them, but it turns out they're only about the size of a chicken ...

I sort of agree, but think maybe that if people set off from and returned to their country of origin it might be better? Surely a ship full of people is better than the same number flying??

Ahh yes, a lovely cruise from my country of origin, landlocked Austria.

I'd not worry specifically about cruises, by the time this is over, there won't be anything very much left at all.

Companies simply cannot continue without cash flow and when this is over, many people will have no jobs, those that do will be paying higher taxes for the borrowing, higher benefit payments etc and how many workers on Furlough or in my case on a 20% salary reduction, are going to get their original jobs or salaries back?

They are indeed a filthy and massive polluter.

But I doubt we'll see the back of them.

Rats can kill a kiwi because they are flightless ground dwellers. Same as our endemic Korora (Little Blue Penguins) whose habitats are ruined by humans and introduced pests. Poor little buggers

I wouldn't mind NOT seeing huge eyesores of cruise ships in beautiful harbours. I also hope its the end of all nasty cheap package holiday companies that turn beautiful locations into Blackpool.

Maybe give a thought to those who rely on their jobs to feed and educate their families

My sister works for a cruise company. She was put on 50% time and money for 3 months yesterday, with a review pending redundancy at the end on June. No furlough where she works.

I don't get the idea of being stuck on a huge ship, being let out in different places to spend few hours there and then rush back
Most people don't get anything until they've tried it. Cruising has to be one of the most misunderstood form of tourism and the one people change most their mind about if/when they actually give it a go.

No one has to want to do a cruise, but judging on misconceptions is never a very exemplary attitude to hold.

Got one booked for next year in the Caribbean, should be good.

The larger ships should be forcibly banned and each one given to countries and docked permanently. Then used for large refugee populations, with poverty and homeless to be houses by their governments.

Smaller ones and medium ones that took steps to limit pollution should still be able to continue.

Saying that all large calibre car engines should have been banned from being made years ago in large nos and only be available to those who need them for where they live or due to their job.

@BikeRunSki As most manning services are not based in the UK for tax reasons hence the scheme doesn't apply. Many are based in Jersey or the Isle of Mann.

dontdisturbmenow many of us also find it curiously addictive. I was only ever going to go on one, to mark an anniversary years ago, so booked a mini suite as it would be "just that once"

I finished up planning the next one while actually on the thing ...

@dontdisturbmenow agree. I've never been skiing, never fancied it, but I'm not arrogant enough to think I know all about skiing holidays even though I've never tried one.

So many people really don't give a shit about the world so long as they get to go on a shitty P&O cruise and stuff themselves full of crap while seeing a small, highly commericalised fragment of countries where the locals probably don't want them... wow.

Aw, let be guess, you only go to worthy places on holiday, only ever go to places 'away from the other dirty tourists' only eat carefully rationed out local food, and the locals think you are the best thing ever.

That's nice for you.

Some people in this thread sound like my MIL who went on the Inca Trail and said that the only thing that spoilt it was all the tourists!

If you expand this argument, then isn’t all holiday travel unnecessary and polluting? Planes, cars, cruise ships - none of it actually needed?

Biker47
"Got one booked for next year in the Caribbean, should be good."

Here's hoping herd immunity works and you can only get it once.

I have only ever been on one cruise, I went on one of the Hurtigruten (spelling?) cruise up and down the Norwegian coast to see very elusive northern lights. The boats also act as ferries for local people, goods etc so stop off frequently, even during the night, to small communities, so I suppose they do serve a social purpose as well as a tourist one , though not sure that justifies their existence. I was naively quite impressed with the size of the boat, until we drew up alongside one of the mega cruise ships and I was astounded.

My experience was that while I enjoyed the experience as a one off there is a certain type of person who likes cruises, and it isn't me. I really can't see the point of the ones where they descend on a small port and thousands of people disembark for a couple of hours , take million photos, buy crap souvenirs then tick Venice , for example, off their bucket list.

(Though I did enjoy sitting alone in the sauna, looking out through a wall sized window as we sailed through frozen sea)

I agree with you wholeheartedly OP; they are an environmental disaster on many levels (I dread to think of the food waste on board). And as for concern for people working in the sector; surely - use your transferable skills to do something else when all this is over? That is what people have had to do throughout history, as one sector diminishes, there are other opportunities arising.

Hang on, flirty's post has given me an idea and I think I might have the answer to this. Why don't we moor big ships up permanently in selected locations and turn them into climate re-education centres?

We could bring Greta in to give lectures, put Corbyn and McDonnell in the purser's office, offer vegan only food, donate casino profits to Greenpeace and maybe even get Trump to do a comedy turn in the theatre

Just think of the possibilities here ...

Guess I'm on my own having a secret soft spot for Cruising with Jane McDonald then?!

Not denying they have an environmental impact but I wonder how many of this who slag off cursing go skiing or long haul flights?

I think some of these responses are a little harsh TBH .Surely a cruise is not a lot different to several flights to Europe ? Many older people enjoy them, and it is a way to travel when you are not mobile .Also many younger people like the shorter ones as well .We had a lovely time on a mini cruise to Belgium a few years ago .Most of the staff were from India/Africa ,and were pleasant and attentive at all times .What will happen to them if they lose their jobs!

Totally agree. they are just havens for the spread of germs and pathogens. Even before this virus, they were constantly getting and had to be constantly on the look out for E Coli infections and other diarrhea bugs. Yeuk!

I think the small river type boats are probably ok but those massive cruise liners need to go I think, and probably will. Turn them into hospital ships (with proper infection control) or homeless accommodation or something useful.

Smaller ones and medium ones that took steps to limit pollution should still be able to continue
This is the perfect example of complete misguidance resulting instating the exact opposite of what is true.

Larger newer ones are build under very strident environmental rules and using latest technologies that makes them much less polluting. It's the older smaller ones that are more of a problem but how much worse than all those plants in the skies transporting people on their much more justified holidays, I'm not sure!